Delta Squad, Moving Out!
by SbobGuyAsdf
Summary: After the fall of The Grand Republic, the commandos of Delta squad were left with little choice other than to join the Empire. However, after a discharge leaves them factionless, Boss and his fellow squad mates are left to hide away for the rest of their lives. This changes when Ezra, Sabine, and Hera crash land on the surface of Tatooine. Their safety may rest in Delta's hands.
1. Delta Squad, Form Up!

The dry sands of Tatooine clouded Boss's visor as he moved forward towards base camp. His legs ached after the long hike around the 25 kilometer perimeter him and the rest of Delta had drawn up. It had seemed like a feasible idea, until it was his turn to make the rounds.

"Why the hell do I have to do this? I'm the blasted leader. Shoulda just made Scorch do it, doubt anyone'd have a problem with that"

He'd been grumbling since the 20 kilo mark. Sure he was a commando, and he'd ran far worse than this. Of course he was always running on the hard, sturdy surfaces that made up Kamino.

The bottom of his HUD flashed with three unmistakeable signatures. Each of them green. His indicator pointed forwards, and he recieved a ping as he crossed over the motion sensor surrounding base camp.

"Finally" Boss sighed in relief as the structure of Base Camp came into view.

"Base Camp" was a simple sand cave, with a holo-sheet splayed over it. The tiny micro-computers inside the sheet projecting a picture of, what else; sand. The sheet made it look like one of the millions of sand dunes in the Dune Sea.

Boss lifted the sheet above his head, and slipped inside. The inside of Base Camp wasn't at all impressive. Some rations stolen from shipments that came by now and then were stacked in one corner, the other corner was full of moniters, computers, broken down parts, anything techy you could think of. On a chair seated infront of the moniters sat Forty, the squads slicer and general tech guy' considering the rest of the squad would rather sun bathe out in the desert than sit in front of a bunch of screens all day.

"Finally back sarge?" Fixer quiped, never turning away from the screens.

"Can it Four-Oh" Boss grumbled as he sat down on top of a ration container. "How's surveillance coming along?"

Fixer leaned back into his chair and pulled his attention away from the screens. "Nominal. We have surveillance equipment set up in all sectors except for gamma." One of the deactivated moniters suddenly burst to life. "And there's gamma, looks like those two finally got it working."

The audio of the camera activated, and the voices of Scorch and Sev flooded into the room. "You worthless peice of bantha-shit, your supposed to turn it that way!" The camera suddenly shifted, turning to look into Sev's visor.

Sev was suddenly tackled to the side as Scorch grabbed hold of the camera. "Like you'd know anything about tech!" He stated.

A armed boot came into contact with Scorch's side and he was flung out of view as the camera dropped to the ground. After rolling, it finally came to a rest with its lens pointed straight at Scorch and Sev.

Sev reached for Scorch's pack, and pulled out a breaching charge. "Oh so your a techie now huh? Well you wont be needing this!" He threw the charge off to the side and it flew out of view.

"No!" With a sudden burst of strength Scorch shoved Sev off of him and pinned him to the sand. Just as he was about to bring his raised fist down into Sev's armored face, Fixer spoke up.

"Ahem, gentlemen" A microphone could be seen next to his keyboard.

The two's glances quickly shot up to the camera.

"The equipment is operational, I would recommend you stop screwing around and hurry back here."

Scorch was the first to recover. "Heh, yeah-yeah of course Four-Oh. We were just bu- ..uhh. Doing... things" He rubbed the back of his helm.

"I can see that."

Sev quickly scrambled to his feet and approached the camera, shoving Scorch on his way. "Re-setting camera" The camera shifted back to it's orginal position looking out into the desert.

The sound of retreating footsteps could be heard until nothing but the wind came through the speakers. Fixer cut the audio, and shifted his attention to another screen.

Boss reclined against the cave wall as Scorch and Sev entered the cave. "Report" He ordered

"Camera in Gamma sector's been set up-"

"I saw" Boss cut in, stiffling a chuckle.

"-and the seas are calm, so to speak"

Boss nodded as he pushed himself off the wall and began walking deeper into the cave. His two squadmates followed, and each left to go to their own little "space" in the cave. Sev simply sat in the, unfortuantely spacious, ammuntion corner. He unlocked his DC-17 from it's magnetic lock on the back of his armor and began to clean it. Scorch collapsed onto a hammock he constructed out of some cloth they had come across in an abandoned tusken camp. Four-Oh was still in his chair typing away.

Boss sighed as he took in their "new home's" surroundings for what seemed like the thousandth time. Things certainly haven't been easy for Delta squad. He sat down on a ration crate and ejected his vibroblade. He took it in his gloves and began examining it. It was one of the few things they'd managed to take with them when they left, along with his armor and gun. Although, as he thought about it, he was rather lucky. Most clones didn't have much of a choice when the order came down. Him, and the rest of Delta were very far from any republic assets when they'd gotten the signal. The signal, a simple holo message of the Chancellor saying Order 66 was now in effect. He knew what it was, or at least he thought he knew. As far as his knowledge went it was an excecutive order, given when one of their own betrayed the Republic, specifically a jedi. What Boss didn't know was that it could be used on such a scale. There wasn't much point dwindling on it though, that was a long 14 years ago. Hell, there wasn't even a Republic anymore. Just a Galatic Empire. An empire, he and the rest of Delta technically deserted from. Their "desertion" was just a simple mishap Scorch had with a few tons of explosives. It had happened before, after all Scorch wasn't the squad demolition expert because he _was_ an expert, more so that he just really liked to see things go _**boom**_. The new command really didn't like that, so they gave him and the rest of the squad a discharge from the Commando Corps, along with a few squads of stormtroopers to see them out. Not that Boss cared about it all too much, the Empire left a bad taste in his mouth anyways.

A warning tone suddenly sounded from Fixer's station, dragging Boss out of his thoughts. He shot up, shoving his blade back into its slot, and jogged over to the monitors, the rest of the squad behind him.

"What's going on?" Boss asked as he eyed the flashing buttons.

Fixer didn't seem all too alarmed, this fact calming the squad down a little. "Hmm, perimeter breach. Aerial vehicle if I'm reading the sensors correctly"

Boss leaned forward and eyed the readouts on one of the moniters. "Location?" More of an order than a question.

"Sit tight" Fixer's armored fingers tapped away at the control panel. "Looks like it flew over Bravo, heading southeast. We should be able to get visual through surveillance in Echo sector. With a few taps of the keyboard a moniter on the left flashed to life over looking a valley.

"Hey you see that?" Scorch asked as he pointed to what looked like a small shuttle. The shuttle was about the size of 2 speeders stacked on top each other. It sported two impressive looking cannons on the front, and a smaller turrent on the top facing backwards.

Sev nodded "Never seen a shuttle like that, what's something so small doing here?"

Suddenly, two TIE fighters blasted into view and began firing at the shuttle.

"What the-" Scorch started

Boss cut him off "Fixer, check Imperial data logs for that shuttle"

"Roger that boss" Fixer responded "Just give me a few seconds to hack into the internal databases"

Boss nodded and returned his attention to the moniter. The TIEs cannons fired away at the small ship, but none of the shots scored hits. The shuttle, proving to be more agile than the larger TIEs, was nimbly avoiding the supercharged bolts. '_whoever's flying must be one hell of a pilot, though the Imperial Navy has deffinetly detoriated over the years'_

"I'm in" Fixer said as a moniter flashed displaying lines of text. "Now I just have to filter through the logs, hold on" He pressed a button on his control panel "Got a pic, inputing filters" With a final press of a button, the screen of text began to change. Text's being filtered off were simply thrown off the screen. Eventually the texts gave way to different files. The moniter zoomed in on one file named "Ghost". "Damn, files encypted, give me a few more seconds Boss"

Boss glanced back at the screen just as a TIE Interceptor came into view. "Hurry it up, I have a feeling that buckets not going to remain airborne much longer"

Sev nodded in a greement. "That's an Interceptor. They don't just anyone fly those, not to mention the guns." He scratched his armored chin "I give them thirty seconds, minute tops"

"Whoa hold on" Scorch interrupted. "Why bother searching for this ship" He paused "I mean, we're not gonna do anything... are we?"

Boss didn't answer

"Boss?" Scorch pushed, still no answer; but he knew that look. Even if he couldn't see past the visor, you learn to get past that when you know someone so well. "Oh come on..."

"Well I'm going with squad lead here, bout time I got to kill something" Sev chuckled "Good thing those troopers ain't clones anymore"

Scorch sighed "Well... it has been a long time since I actually breached a door... "

Boss patted him on the back. "Thats the Six-Two I know!" He looked back to Fixer "Status?"

"Just about Boss" His fingers typed away, becoming a blur. "But by the looks of it 'just about' isn't gonna cut it"

The squad looked back at the moniter. The Interceptor had closed it. With a flick of a finger, the camera zoomed up, getting a closer view of the fight. The turret on the back had begun firing red bolts at the pursuing fighters. One of the bolts struck a TIE fighter's left wing, consuming it in flame. It fell from the sky, spinning until it smashed into the ground. The other two fighters seemed undeterred by the loss and continued firing. As the Interceptor pulled in, multiple bolts struck it; but the shields surrounding it simply brushed them off.

"Got it!" Fixer cheered as the files contents spilled open "Took longer than I thought"

Boss tore his attention away from the moniter to focus on the database. "What have we got Four-Oh?"

Fixer 'hmmed' as he went through the information. Eventually four pictures were pulled up. One, detailing a man who looked to be in his twenties, with a bit of armored plating covering his left shoulder. Another, of a Twi'lek who looked to be the same age as the man before. And a interesting one of a Lasat

'_guess the empire missed one' _Boss mused

Finally, one that really caught Boss's eye, was a girl; couldn't be older than 17, decked out in mandalorian armor. The old stuff too. It looked to be custom painted.

A ping sounded from one of the terminals "Boss... I'm getting a transmission..." said Fixer.

"What?" They hadn't even known that old sattelite still worked. It had been set up not two weeks ago, it dated back to the Old Republic. "Put it through."

Fixer pressed a button on the terminal and static filled the room. A voice could be heard breaking the static every once in awhile.

"This is-of-need asistance-Imperial Figh-Tatooine-Dune Sea.-Repe-AHHH!" The message cut out abruptly, as a scream was heard in the backround along with an explosion. In the corner of his eye, Boss could see the Interceptor fire off a clean shot into the back of the shuttle. Back of the shuttle erupted into flames, as the small ship dropped down into the desert. Eventually the shuttle fell out of the camera's view.

The entire squad was dead silent, only when the smoke trail disapeared did one of them speak.

"Well... I suppose we should do something" Scorch muttered. The squad, not used to having to make their own decisions outside of combat; instinctively turned to their leader. However, Boss was having conflicting thougts as well. Command would usually sort this type of thing out, they'd just have to work out the kinks of their plan on the field.

'_Blast... no easy way to go about this. Either way we need to do this. We've been here too long' _Boss nodded to himself before stepping infront of his squad

"We've been here too long, we can't stay in this cave forever... hiding." He looked to his team, all of them looking at him. No one made a move to stop him so he continued on. "I don't know where this'll take us, but it _has_ to be better than this"

Scorch interrupted him with a chuckle. "Sorry Boss, but did ya miss the conversation earlier? We already got out minds made up, and hey! Even if we didn't, your our leade; we'd go with you anyway" He gave Boss's shoulder-pad a pat. "Because ya know you'd probably have us do laps around the Dune Sea if we didn't"

Everyone let out a chuckle.

"Well then" Boss started "Lets go save us some criminals"

"I've always wanted to be the bad guy" Sev's wicked grin could practically be seen through the helmet.

"I'm with you squad lead"

Boss smiled proudly at his team

"Delat squad, form up!"


	2. Crash Site Confrontation

The smoke plume rose over the horizon as Delta moved forward. Boss, along with the rest of the squad, all sported camouflaged cloaks that covered most of their armor that would have stuck out like a sore thumb in the desert.

"We're almost there, maybe 500 meters till we get to the observation point" Forty called from the back. He was currently reading off a holo chart that was displaying the area around them.

"Copy that."

Meanwhile, Scorch and Sev were in front of the two.

"Hey Sev, remember that one time on the RAS?" Scorch asked

"Remembered a lot of dead trandosians"

"No, no" Scorch waved his arms "Before that- uh here. Ya know how you, uh, "lost" your keychain made of G-dan bones?"

"Yeah..." Sev sighed

"Well I just remembered what happened to it" Sev's glance shot to Scorch "I totally spaced it"

"..."

"Your mad aren't you"

"..."

"Ya know, I think I probably shoulda kept my mouth shut"

Sev slapped the back of his helmet. "That makes two of us"

"Shift it you two!" Forty called from the back "OB point is just on this ridge!"

The observation point, as Forty had dubbed it; was a "sand hill" larger than a dune, smaller than a mountain. At the peak, the crash site was easily visible below, about 200 meters away. The miniature shuttle was currently wedged into the crater it had created, its remains still on fire. A few boxes were scattered about, filled with what seemed to be blasters and RPG's. However, what really caught Boss's attention, was the platoon of stormtroopers surrounding the crash.

"That's a lot of hostiles" Boss commented "This might be a challenge"

Sev chuckled "Hardly" He raised his DC-17 with the sniper mod currently attached.

"Hold your fire Oh-Seven" Forty's words halted Sev, and with a few grumbles he lowered his gun. "Look" He pointed towards the crash "the targets".

Boss brought up his rangefinder, and looked to where Forty was pointing. Sure enough, he spotted a twi'lek being dragged out of the shuttle by a pair of stormtroopers. The twi'lek was currently unconscious... or dead. Suddenly a small form was thrown out of the shuttle. Zooming in, Boss saw what looked to be a kid.

"Are you seeing what I'm seeing Forty?" Boss asked still training his rangefinder on the unmoving form of the child.

"Yeah, teenager. Can't be more than 15" Forty nodded

"Wait" Scorch called "Someone else is coming out"

Boss looked back into his range finders to see the uniform of a Imperial Officer. "Hmm.. looks to be an ISB agent. The Empire must really want these people" He commented as the agent dragged the boy by the foot.

"Where are they taking them?" Scorch asked

A troop transport suddenly sped into the crash site. It came to an abrupt stop and its doors slid open, letting out even more stormtroopers.

"Ah, yeah that would make sense"

Boss noticed movement in the shuttle once more and shifted his rangefinder to get a better view. "Squad, shuttle; somethings moving" Suddenly, a figure stumbled out; decked out in mandalorian armor. '_ah, that would be the girl we saw in the databases'_ Boss mused.

"She's not looking too good" Scorch said as she continued to limp away from the crash. A stormtrooper ran up to her with his blaster drawn. From the motions he was making, Boss assumed he was ordering her to the ground. The girl reached a trembling hand to her blaster, and attempted to raise it to the trooper. The stormtrooper was faster however, he quickly batted her arm away; causing her to drop the gun. He then brought the butt of his gun down on her head, effectively knocking her out. Two more troopers approached and grabbed her by the arms, dragging her towards the troop transport where the other two were already secured.

"This is just ridiculous" Sev shook his head

"What?" Scorch asked

"Who would keep prisoners _outside _of the transport?"

Scorch nodded his head "Yeah, I mean they could easily escape and no one would ever know.."

"No, you can't interogate a prisoner if their outside"

Scorch sighed "Yeah, of course that's what you meant"

The girl was currently being hooked up to the side of the transport.

"Shouldn't we be shooting by now?" Sev asked, rifle raised. Boss could tell it took quite a lot of willpower for him to refrain from firing.

"Not yet, theres too many" Boss replied, still looking into his rangefinder.

The squad fell into silence as they all observed the crash site. Boss used the temporary silence to throughly examine the area. In total, he counted around 35 stormtroopers. They could get through them, but by the time they did the transport would be long gone. They could track it, but that could take days; weeks even.

Scorch dropped his rangefinders and rolled back from the edge onto his back. "So... anybody got a story to pass the time?"

"Can it" Forty cut him off

Sev suddenly sat up. "Hold on... do you... feel that?"

Boss was about to question him when he felt a dull rumbling going through his greaves. Just as he was about to comment on it, something came in contact with his stomach throwing him into the air. He landed with a thud about 5 meters away from his previous position. Quickly pulling out his blaster, he pointed it at the cloud of dust that had form around the observation point. As the dust settled he could see the outline of a probe droid. "Probe!" He called out. The rest of the squad recovered quickly and jumped to their feet.

A shot rang out and a blue streak sliced through the probe droid. The robot studdered and sparked before it fell to the ground with a clank.

"Hostile neutalized" Sev's gravelly voice rang out from the smoke. "That felt good"

Scorch walked up the the ridge "Hey, uh, you think they heard that?"

Boss looked over the ridge to see the platoon of stormtroopers looking directly at them, guns raised. "Possibly" A red bolt struck the ridge "definitely"

"Down!" Forty yelled just as the transports gun opened up on the hill. Green bolts slammed into the sand, a few bolts melting through.

"I need a vacation!" Scorch yelled over the carnage of green bolts ripping through the air.

"You just had one!" Sev yelled

"Well... I want another!"

A sudden lapse in fire prompted Boss to look over the ridge. The transport could be seen speeding away from the site. "Sev!"

"On it" Sev responded as he hefted up his sniper. After a second of lining up his shot, he pulled the trigger. The shot hit home, striking the fuel tank. The shields must have been disabled, as the bolt met no resistance as it cut a hole into the tank. Black liquid began to leak out of the transport.

Boss sighed "That'll have to do" He turned towards the stormtroopers rushing towards their position "Squad, lets show these men how real troopers fight" He pointed toward a rock sticking out of the hill. "Set up there, delta" Sev nodded and took cover behind the rock, immediately he began to open up on the troopers. A few of them dropped as the piercing streaks of blue slammed into them.

"Engaging enemy" Fixer stated as he too began to open fire. Multiple red bolts hit the sand near them. Boss brought up his weapon and trained it on the nearest stormtrooper. He pulled the trigger twice, he quickly switched to another target before the trooper even hit the ground. As he continued to fire away, Scorch ran up next to him with the AT-mod attached to his DC.

"Bout time I got to use this!" He launched the grenade into a cluster of stormtroopers. The explosion thowing all of them in opposite directions. "Hey I didn't know stormtroopers could fly" He quipped as he loaded another AT grenade.

"Flying is easy, landing is hard" Sev called as he put another bolt into a stormtroopers helmet.

As another stormtrooper fell, Boss noticed them begin to retreat. "Move up deltas!" He motioned for Sev to leave his position before crossing over the ridge and moving down the hill after the retreating stormtroopers. On of the braver troopers stood his ground and fired a shot off at Boss. The bolt struck his chest, but a shimmering blue field enveloped him; absorbing the energy. Boss noticed his shield indicator go down a bit. The stormtrooper, somewhat surprised; hesitated. Boss, however; did not as he brought a armoured fist into the troopers helmet. He stumbled backwards, dropping his blaster. Boss extended his vibro-blade and shoved it into the stormtrooper's unarmored throat. The trooper fell to the ground, squirming as he tried to keep his vital fluids inside of him. Boss ignored the trooper and continued his push forward.

"Hostiles to our 12!" Forty pointed out a few troopers taking cover behind a rock formation at the bottom of the hill.

"This'll be easy" Sev chuckled raising his rifle.

"Uh, maybe not" Scorch said as two stormtroopers hauling a very large looking mounted gun. They extended tri-pods from the bottom and placed it behind the rocks. A trooper quickly took control of the gun, and pointed it at the squad. A few seconds later, a hail of bolts began flying at the squad.

"Blast" Boss muttered as he dived to the sand, trying to avoid the bolts. Unfortunately, the hillside was comepletely barren of cover; except for the corpses of stormtroopers lying about. His shield had already taken a few bolts, the indicator telling him it was at half strength. "Squad! There's no cover here, we need to push up!" He yelled over the incoming fire.

"Suggestions?" Sev asked as he attempted to fire at the gunner, but was forced to lie back down as another hail of bolts flew over his head.

"Charge!" Scorch yelled as he ran forward, zig-zagging to avoid the fire.

Boss shrugged "Better than nothing" He too ran forward, zig-zagging as well.

"Seriously?" Fixer facepalmed. Sev ignored him as he ran towards the stormtroopers position. "Fine.." He sighed, before picking himself up and running straight into the incoming fire.

Scorch was the first to arrive at the rock formation. His DC-17 was in one hand, his pistol in the other. The gunner was currently focused on Boss, who was right behind him; leaving him free to move up. He jumped up on the rocks, surprising the stormtroopers; with a great leap he propelled himself over the troopers with both weapons trained on them. He opened fire, bolts spraying down into the group of stormtroopers. Bunches of them fell in a heap as streaks of blue peppered their bodies. Unfortunately the gunner was not one of the fallen. Scorch landed on his back, looking straight into the barrel of the mounted gun.

"Uh... hi?" Before the trooper could pull the trigger, a bolt struck his helmet; burning straight through the other side. He fell immediately, landing with a dull thud. Scorch looked to Sev who was standing on the rocks, sniper still smoking. "My hero"

"Shut it" Sev grumbled as he hopped off the rock. He looked to the body of the fallen gunner, and promptly emptied the rest of his mag into his face.

"Sev, did that corpse give you a nasty look?" Scorch asked as he pushed himself up.

"Rule 17-"

"We know, always make sure their dead" He cut him off.

Boss walked past the two and quickly surveyed the area. Bodies of stormtroopers were strewn everywhere on the hill, some clumped together and some spread about. There were a few bodies closer to the crash site. '_must've been Sev's handiwork"_ He mused. "Alright squad, area clear. Let's see if they left anything behind"

"Besides the dead stormtroopers?"

"Can it Scorch" Fixer scolded as he walked past.

Boss nodded and walked towards the burning remains of the shuttle. "I'm going to check out the shuttle, the rest of you spread out and see what you can find" After a series of confirmations, he walked inside the shuttle. The inside of the shuttle was untouched by the fire, but there was smoke coming off the control panel in the front. His helmets filters dealt with any toxins however. A crate, still intact by the looks of it; was leaning against the wall. It's cover still secured. Boss walked over to it and attempted to pull the cover off, it didn't budge. "Damn" He noticed a control panel on the crate "Hmm, let's see if I still remember how to do this" He knelt down and began typing. One firewall later, the crate beeped; and a click could be heard. He quickly slid the cover off with ease, and looked over the contents. This crate, like the crate before; was filled to the brim with weapons. "Blasters, launchers" Boss muttered "You could fill an armory with this" He picked up one of them and examined it. _'This is definitely military grade, where did those smugglers get this?'. _His thoughts were cut short as Forty signaled the squad over the comm.

"Deltas, I have visual on the fuel leak. I suggest we get a move on. Reinforcements are most likely on their way"

Boss activated his com-link "Copy, I'm on my way."

Boss dropped the weapon back into the crate and stepped out of the shuttle. He saw Fixer crouching near the fuel leak, and jogged over to him.

"What do we have here?" Boss questioned

Forty scratched his armored chin as he examined the fuel "Well it's fuel" Boss gave him a look "It's heading east, I'm assuming it'll lead us to those smugglers" Boss nodded and was about to signal the other two, when Fixer spoke again "Hold on Boss" Boss withdrew his fingers from his comm and turned to Forty "How far are we going to take this?" Forty asked, straight to the point. At Boss's questioning look Fixer spoke again "We just went through a platoon of stormtroopers, now we're probably heading towards something much worse" He shook his head "We don't even know these people, and don't give me that crap about being a hero; I know you don't believe that" Boss was about to speak, but Forty cut him off again "We're soldiers, we follow orders; not heroes."

"You got a better idea, Delta?"

"Uuh, negative sir; bu-"

"Then let's get a move on" Boss turned away from Fixer and began following the black trail of fuel. Fixer stood there, simply staring as Boss walked away. Scorch brushed past him.

"Come on Forty, you heard him"

Fixer sighed and began walking, following the trail as well. "Better than nothing huh?" He muttered "Let's hope your right Boss"


	3. Two-Legged Troubles

A giant spear-like building protruded from the desert, the only structure for miles. It's tip shot straight up into the atmosphere. Surrounding it, were thick walls lined with defensive turrets and stormtroopers. From the hill Boss stood on, he could make out the shapes of walkers and transports moving about and a few exiting the complex to being patrols.

"What is this place?" Scorch asked in awe. His arms hung limply by his sides, and one could tell he was gaping inside his helmet.

Fixer brought up his holopad and began typing. "Imperial Database names this installation... Rehabilitation Center 337, nicknamed 'Falcon's Pitt' by various criminal networks" He replied after a few seconds.

Boss hmm'd "Any reason for the nickname?" He asked as he continued to scout out the complex.

Fixer began scrolling "Affirmative, crime lord Falcon Olax; head of the Outlanders"

"Outlanders? Strange name..." Sev commented

Fixer nodded "Yes, their a pirate crew. Although from what I'm seeing they're active in various gang activities, like drugs and protection rackets. Anyways, Olax got himself into some trouble and long story short ended up here" He pointed towards the prison "Didn't stop him from managing his empire though, he operates out of there. From what I'm seeing, he basically runs the place"

Scorch scratched his head in confusion "How'd he manage that?"

"Can't imagine it'd be too hard" Sev replied "Stormtroopers are easy to corrupt" he stated "And I'm sure he could hire plenty of muscle, not to mention his connections"

Fixer nodded again "That's the best answer" He continued scrolling. "I'm guessing the pirates nicknamed the place to further assert his control, or pride.

Boss scratched his chin "Interesting, this Falcon character might be able to help us out, something to think about."

Sev shook his head "I wouldn't count on it, unless you got something to trade."

Fixer cut in "And this is all assuming our targets are even being kept here, for all we know the transport might just be refueling."

"Can't you just like... check the logs or something?" Scorch asked

Fixer sighed "It's not always that simple Scorch" He shook his head. "To find out we'd need to get close to the prison mainframe terminal, which is standard in all Imperial prisons; and to do that we'd have to get inside."

"Have we ever actually... snuck into a place?" Sev asked

"I don't think so" Scorch replied.

"Well" Boss said as he hefted up his blaster "first time for everything" He turned to Fixer "Forty I need blueprints, we need to get into the main complex without being spotted" Fixer nodded and began typing on his holo-pad. "Scorch, we're gonna need your AT expertise"

"Uh, Boss I'm all for explosive entry... but isn't that the opposite of stealth?" Scorch questioned.

"Don't worry about that, I've got a plan" Boss replied as he turned to Sev "You still have that signal jammer you got from Niner?" Sev nodded and showed Boss the jammer, and oval shaped object with a screen and antenna

"Yeah, it's got a limited range though; we wont be able to jam every comm device in the area"

Boss nodded "It doesn't need to, we'll need it for our exit"

"Got the blueprints Boss" Fixer said as he brought up the blueprints "Unfortunately I didn't find any entry points along the outer wall, however; lets say we somehow get past the outer defenses undetected, there is a series of passages going through the prison. Theres an entrance in what looks to be a docking hangar for the transports, it'll need to be sliced into though." Fixer zoomed in on one of the passages. "These passages seem to be ventalation shafts, but they're way too large. I'd have to guess escape routes for the officers. What still confuses me is the fact that they are displayed in the blueprints... kinda defeats the secret part of the passages.

"Perfect" Boss said "Do any of those passages lead to the mainframe?"

Fixer shook his head "Not sure, mainframe isn't listed here; but I'm positive there is one." After a few seconds of thinking he spoke again "I may need to download an updated blueprint from a terminal inside the prison. It'd need to have high clearance as well."

Scorch pointed to a room marked 'Security Hub' "What about here? 'Ought to be a few terminals."

Boss nodded "Definitely, security hubs are used for monitering and prison control. Terminals there would need to have higher clearance."

"Then I should be able to slice into them, and get the mainframes location" Fixer nodded "That should work"

"Just one problem" Boss looked over to Sev "How are we supposed to get _inside_?"

Boss chuckled "I had an... idea" The squad huddled around Boss as he began to explain his plan.

_**LATER...**_

__"This is the worst plan... ever" Scorch complained for the fourth time

"Shut it Scorch" said Fixer

"Does everyone remember the plan?" Boss asked

Sev nodded "Scorch will disable one of these walkers on patrol, we'll commandeer it; and then use it to breach the perimeter of the prison without being seen."

"Alright good" Boss replied "One of those walkers should be traveling through here soon" He motioned to the barren wasteland in front of him, the prison was currently out of sight behind a rather large sand dune.

"How do you know?" Sev questioned

Boss simply pointed towards an approaching walker.

"Oh"

Boss rolled his eyes and motioned for the squad to take cover. Fortunately, there was quite a few peices of junk and debris laying about for Delta to hunker down behind. As the walker drew closer, Boss signaled for Scorch to move up behind the remains of a starfighter's wing sticking out of the sand. Scorch moved up and dived behind it, his weapon ready.

"Tell me when to shoot Boss" Scorch said as the thumps of the walker came closer.

Boss didn't reply. He eyed the walker as it inched closer. It didn't seem to notice them, which was good. However, just as he was about to give Scorch the signal to fire; the walker stopped abruptly.

He tilted his head slightly "What in the-" The walker' turret suddenly pointed directly towards him. "Shit!" He cursed as he dived to the side just as a he heard the shriek of the bolt striking durasteel. The explosion threw him away from his cover, and into the open sands. He looked towards the walker to see his squad distracting it.

"You good Boss?" Scorch called over the squad com.

Boss slowly picked himself up "Yes, Scorch I need AT on that walker!" He ordered as he sprinted back to cover. The walker began firing it's main turret again, this time at Sev. The bolts struck the fighter wing Sev was hiding behind, harmlessly bouncing off or being absorbed. Scorch used the opening to leave his cover. "Remember, don't destory it! We need the hull intact!" Boss reminded

"Don't worry Boss, I got this" Scorch ran at the walker with his weapon raised. The walker turned it's attention to him. but it was too late. Scorch fired off the AT round at the turret just as the walker opened fire. The AT round made it to the barrel of the giant gun before a bolt struck it, causing it to explode. The explosion engulfed the entire walker, it stumbled around on it's two legs before falling to the ground with a loud clank. Boss signaled Delta to move up on the walker, which was currently obscured by a cloud of dust.

"No contacts" Fixer called out as he inched forward with the rest of the squad. As they reached the edge of the dust cloud, Boss signaled them to stop. The dust cloud slowly began to lift away. Eventually, the charred and burning remains of a walker could be found.

"Damnit" Boss's shoulders slumped and he lowered his gun. "I told you we needed it _intact_ Scorch"

Scorch raised his hands defensively "Hey, it's not my fault!" Boss stared at him "Wha- did you see them shoot the round at the grenade?" Boss simply shook his head and walked towards the walker to put of the flames. Fixer and Sev walked by as well, Sev giving him a sove and Fixer shaking his head. "What?" He asked as he followed them. "Come on, give me a break" He sighed when everyone ignored him. "Why is it always _my_ fault when something blows up?" He grumbled as he began to walk towards the walker.

"Really?" Sev asked "Your really asking that question?"

"Eh, good point"

_**15 standard minutes later...**_

"Is this salvageable Forty?" Boss asked. The squad had just finished snuffing out the flames, and a quick check of the interior revealed fried circuits and charred bodies. The bodies had been dumped unceremoniously on the sand, and Fixer was currently examining the walker's systems.

"Suprisingly yes, but only just." Boss said nothing, prompting Fixer to go on. "Well, the transmission is intact; but badly damaged. Considering the prison is so close, it should stay that way until we get there. The hull's scrap, indicators aren't working; turrets... exploded, communications are shot as well as most major systems."

"Will it make it back to the prison?" Boss asked

After a second of thought, Fixer nodded. "I believe so, but just barely. We'll need to think of an excuse. I doubt the Imps are dull enough to let a walker as damaged as this through"

"Tusken raiders" Sev spoke from the corner of the cabin. He was sitting on one of the seats, checking his rifle. "Those little bastards love attacking Imperial patrols, sometimes they come out on top"

Boss nodded "That'll do. They'll ask questions, anyone got a good Imperial accent?"

Scorch's hand shot up. "Let me try!" He cleared his throat, and then spoke in the most snoodish and asinine Imperial accent Boss had ever heard "Yes, those rebel scum will never triumph over the might of the grand and most powerful Imperial Empire!" The cabin was quiet for a moment, before the squad burst out with laughter; even Fixer gave a chuckle.

"Oh! You got Forty to laugh Scorch!" Sev laughed

"Yeah, yeah; get back to work" Fixer ordered. However, Boss could still tell he was smiling.

"I suppose Scorch'll be doing the talking then" Boss said after he calmed down. Scorch fist pumped. "But we'll need to get that out of our systems, can't be losing it at the checkpoint gate" Boss looked towards Scorch "Go on, _officer_." Boss chuckled.

The cabin filled with laughter again as the walker began shakily walking back towards the prison. Although they were laughing, all the members of Delta squad had a hunch they were about to have a _very_ bad day.


	4. What Lies Beneath

The dull thumps of the walker's metal feet hitting the surface of the desert were the only sound that broke the silence inside of the cabin. The squad had long since laughed themselves out, there were all at the ready. Fixer was manning the controls, while the rest of the squad simply sat; and waited.

"ETA?" Sev whispered over squad com. He didn't need to whisper, considering his helmets speakers were muted; but Boss always thought it was a good habit.

"Gate's in sight now" Fixer replied.

Boss looked through the walker's view-port, and sure enough; the gigantic durasteel gate stood about 100 meters in front of them. The gate was currently closed, and would open when patrols were scheduled for return. There was a metal platform that came up to the walker's entrance hatch, the platform protruded from a door embedded into the giant wall. On said platform, were a small squad of stormtrooper's each armed with an AT launcher, all of which were pointed at the damaged form of their walker.

"We should be careful here, I don't think even a stormtrooper could miss with one of those" Scorch whispered.

"Hmpf, thought you were gonna say something about exploding them" Sev muttered. "A nice surprise" He shurgged

"Whatever" Scorch lightly punched Sev's armored shoulder.

Fixer looked back at the two "Get it together" He commanded "Scorch, now's your time; officer's coming to see what's up"

True to his words, Boss saw the door in the wall slide open; showing a grizzled officer with plenty of medals adorning his chest. He strutted towards the walker and stopped next to the hatch.

"Open up!" He tapped on the hatch

Sev shoved Scorch up. Scorch shot Sev a helmetted glare, be fire turning towards the side view-port.

"Uh.. no can do sir, doors busted" Scorch spoke with his imperial accent.

Instead of complaining for just getting absolutely pissed that his demands were not met like the the squad predicted, he simply stepped back and sighed.

"Of course" he facepalmed. "Your walker looks to be quite damaged" He removed his hand from his face "Give me a report on your patrol" He ordered.

Scorch cleared his throat before speaking again. "Sand raiders sir, caught us alone. We managed to fend them off."

The officer nodded, and stroked his un-bearded chin "Indeed? How did they manage to inflict so much damage without the use of AT?" He asked

Scorch scratched the back of his head, trying to think of an answer. "Uh... yeah they used AT rockets."

Through the view-port, Scorch could see the officer squint at him. Just as Scorch was sure he was going to order the troops to open fire, he stopped squinting and stepped back.

"Well then" He began stroking his chin again. "This is most disturbing news" He started pacing back and forth, ignoring the deltas "I'll have to launch an investigation, those barbarians don't show enough intelligence to gather such weaponry. Hmm maybe-" He cut himself off and looked back to the damaged walker "Well, these are details best kept secret." He gave a signal to one of the stormtroopers. The door began to screech as it opened. "Head to docking hangar 14B!" The officer shouted over the screeching.

"Yes sir!" Scorch said as he sat back down, and let out a long sigh.

Fixer, looked back to see the officer squinting at them; before arching an eyebrow and walking off.

"Well that was... interesting" Sev commented from the back of the cabin.

Boss nodded "I think we underestimated them" At the squads questioning looks, he continued "That officer almost caught on, we can't allow ourselves to underestimate any enemy. Even..." He glanced out the door to see stormtroopers trying to hit a moving target, while also moving themselves. One of the troopers tripped over himself, falling into another trooper; causing all the troopers to fall like dominoes. The last one who fell accidently squeezed the trigger on his rifle; hitting the target directly. After a moment of all the stormtroopers staring in awe, an officer walked up and handed the trooper a sniper rifle. "even that..." He finished as he turned away from the scene.

"I suppose" Fixer said.

The walker's cabin again fell into a silence as it staggered on towards the docking hangar. Boss didn't quite know where that was, but he trusted Fixer did. All he could do, was sit and wait; and that's what he did.

Minutes later, A large structure came into view. It was easily over 100 feet, both in height and width. Boss felt _very_ tiny compared to the interior. It definitely looked bigger on the inside. There were indents in the walls for walkers to dock. Most were empty, only a few walkers could be seen; all of which were getting repairs.

"Damn..." Scorch whispered in awe.

"Yeah, damn's right" Sev agreed, eyeing the walkers through the viewport. "No crew leading us in, strange..".

"They don't need any" Fixer said "I'm getting instructions on the moniter. We'll be parking at a dock about 100 meters from the passage. He pointed to the far corner. Boss could make out a small circular door when the blueprints indicated a entrance to the passage. Beyond the it, sat a much larger door.

'_Most likely leads to another part of the prison'_ he thought.

About a minute later, the walker finally reached it's destination. Unfortunately, a maintance crew was waiting. One of them carrying a large saw.

"Their gonna saw the door open, guess they believed us" Sev said as he readied his weapon.

The walker stopped moving as two clamps rose from the ceiling. The squad heard a clang as the magnetics kicked in, locking the walker in place. Soon after, they heard the sqealing of metal as the saw began ripping apart the door.

"Stand back" Boss ordered as the blades of the saw breached into the cabin.

Minutes passed as the saw slowly made it's way around the door. Everyone stood still as the saw's blades finished cutting around the door. Slowly, the door began to fall outwards. It hit the ground with a thud, revealing the maintance crew; in their black and grew uniforms.

"Sirs are you al- what the?!" The crew chief hadn't finished his sentence before Scorch jumped out of the cabin. Before the chief could react, Scorch had brought the but of his weapon down on his head; knocking him out. As he fell, the other crew members froze up and stared with fear. Scorch raised his weapon and pointed at the closet one, a female human. Boss and the rest of the squad filed out and eached pointed their weapons at the crew. The first thing Boss noticed was that everybody in front of them wasn't a day over 17.

"Lower your weapons" He ordered as he lowered his. The crew, still very afraid, looked confused.

"But Boss-" Scorch started

"You heard him" Fixer cut him off as he lowered his weapon. Scorch rolled his eyes but obeyed, as did Sev.

Boss turned his attention back to the maintence crew. "I suggest you leave" He said.

One of them, the girl; got bold and spoke up "But sir, our cheif-"

"Doesn't matter" She flinched as Boss's voice "And unless you'd like to end up like him, I'd suggest you _leave_. I've no reservations of killing you" Boss raised his weapon to the girl's face.

"O-okay, okay." She put her hands up "I-it was the end of our shift anyway" She stammered out "Come on guys.." She ran off, along with the rest of them.

Boss sighed as he lowered his weapon.

"Wow, how diplomatic Boss" Sev chuckled.

"Shut up and get moving" He grumbled as he began moving towards the passage door. As they approached, Boss noticed a panel on the left side of the circular door. "Fixer, see what you can do about opening it" He motioned towards the panel.

"Aye Boss" Fixer confirmed as he began typing away at the panel. Seconds of tense silence later, an audible beep was heard, and the small door slid up into the ceiling; allowing the Deltas entrance.

"Lets move" Boss motioned forward as he entered first, it was a tight squeeze, but he got through; along with the rest of the squad. The inside of the passage felt much more spacious, but it was pitch black. "Low light filters on" He ordered. Boss tapped a button on the side of his helmet, and the grainy black and white night vision kicked in. The passage was wide enough for two men to walk side by side with general ease. There were support collums on either side of the passage, each one about ten feet from the one behind it. The ceiling rose up past the filters field of view, making the ceiling seem endlessy high.

"Okay, this is... _definitely _not creepy" Scorch commented as he eyed the passage.

"Everything creeps you out" Sev grumbled as he gave Scorch a shove.

Fixer eyed them before looking at his holo-pad. "This passage is part of a huge network" he said "We'll have to be careful not to get lost" He began walking forwards, motioning for the squad to follow.

"Wouldn't be the first" Scorch said as he stepped over the remains of a human skull. "Oh, yep; definitely creeped out now."

The squad continued forward for several minutes until they reached a intersection. A small room. On each side of the room was a different passage. As Boss stepped in, he took notice of more remains strewn across the floor. He knelt down and examined one of the bones, a collar bone by the looks of it; that had been cut in half. The cut was jagged and messy. "Strange..." Boss commented

"Whatcha got Boss?" Scorch asked as he knelt down next to him.

"These bones" Boss replied. He examined it closely, he noticed several unmistakeable marks on the bones surface. "Bite marks... that doesn't make any sense" He stood up and stroked his helmet. "Why would there be bones down here in the first place?" He questioned to himself.

Scorch sighed "Creepy creepy creepy" He muttered under his breath.

"Let's get a move on squad" Boss ordered, shaking off his curiosity "We still have a job to do."

Fixer nodded and began examining his holo-pad again. "Security hub's this way" He pointed down a hallway to Boss's right. "Wait somethings not right" His eyes shot back to the holo-pad.

"What is it?" Boss asked.

Fixer stroked his helm "I'm not sure... it looks as if the map's... updated itself." At Boss's questioning look he continued "I had our path mapped out beforehand, but the passageways leading there aren't showing up anymore... it's all... blank.

"Your gonna need to explain that again..." Sev said, annoyed.

"Well" Fixer began "As far as the maps concerned, we're heading straight into a darkzone. It's just a blank spot on the map"

"Hmm" Boss scratched his head "What about these other-"

"What the hell?!" Scorch yelled. The squad immediately dropped into a combat stance, only to freeze as they saw what alarmed Scorch.

"What happened to the other passageways?!" Boss asked in disbelief as he felt around the wall that had once been a hallway. Infact, all the passages except for the one leading into the blank zone were now just wall.

"This is some serious voodoo shit!" Scorch yelled as he felt for any kind of seam indicating a door. "Sev?"

Sev shook his head in disbelief "Nothing.. this isn't a door... it's just a wall. What the hell is this place?"

Even Fixer looked alarmed. "I have no clue, this is an Imperial prison. No telling what kind of things these passageways were used for"

Boss sighed as he gave up useless scraping at the wall. "This is turning into a lot more trouble than it's worth"

Sev shrugged "Doesn't look like we have much choice now, we're stuck between a rock and what is most likely hell."

Scorch let out a shakey breath "This is beyond creepy.." He muttered. "All we need now is some creepy music"

Sev nodded "For once... I believe you"

Boss leaned against the wall and eyed the remaing passageway. After several seconds he shook his head and pushed himself off the wall "Come on squad, might as well keep moving."

Scorch's glance shot to Boss "Are you serious?!"

"Well I mean.. we don't really have a choice" Sev motioned to the blank walls.

Scorch shook his head "Shut up.." He began slowly walking after Boss and fixer who were already walking down the hallway. Sev chuckled to himself as he followed.

Boss noticed the hallway looked much more menacing now. The walls had a seemingly demonic red tint to them now, he chalked that off to his imagination; however the markings of _very_ ancient looking symbols hastily scribbled into the wall were unfortunately real. It didn't help that they had been walking for several minutes now, each second the atmosphere seemed to grow more tense.

"What do you think these mean?" Scorch asked, his finger tracing the outline.

"I don't want to say it but... they look like ancient Sith text" Fixer said "I could be wrong though"

"Hopefully" Scorch quickly tore his gaze away from the carvings.

A few minutes of _very_ tense silence, Fixer spoke up, "We're reaching the darkzone now. Theres no telling what could be inside. However, I could-" He was cut off by what Boss could only describe as a breeze. Fixers holo-pad quickly blinked out. "What the..." All of the squad eyed his deactivated holo-pad. "Strange.."

"One of those days, eh Fixer?"

"Shut up Scorch" Fixer sighed "Lets keep moving."

In front of them, the passageway made a sharp left; the first time it went any direction except for straight.

Boss motioned for the squad to stack up on the wall, with him in the lead. When they all signaled they were in position he quickly turned the corner and pointed his weapon. A blaring light shined into Boss's face, his low light filter automatically turned off, allowing him to see what was infront of him. The hallway simply ended, giving way to dirt. A light was hanging out of the ceiling, now smoking.

"You good Boss?" Scorch whispered as he moved into the corridor.

"Affirmative" Boss replied "Bulb must have burst."

The squad formed up once more and moved out of the hallway, out into the dirt. Even though they just emerged from a cramped hallway, the oppressive feeling each Delta was getting only grew as they stepped out. Boss was about to turn his filter back on when a orange light illuminated itself. He hefted his gun towards the light, only to find an energy crystal attached to a rod sticking out of the ground.

"What's that?" Scorch asked

Boss walked up to it and examined it. "Energy crystal"

Scorch tilted his head "The kind Jedi used to make lightsabers with?"

Boss nodded his head slowly "Yes, Sith too" He stepped away from the rod.

Scorch groaned "_Really_ not helping"

Suddenly, more orange crystals illuminated themselves. The light from the crystals was just enough to show a path leading forward, everything outside the path was still darkness. Very _thick_ darkness. Not even Boss's low light filter could pierce it. He looked to the end of the trail, but it simply ended in darkness.

"We need to move, I don't want to be here much longer" Boss began jogging to the end of the path, his squad quick to follow. Boss stopped at the edge of the darkness and waited. Nothing happened, so he slowly lifted his hand and began reaching for the darkness.

"I'm not sure that's a good idea" Sev commented, even he sounded uneasy.

Boss ignored him and plunged his hand into the darkness. It felt thick, like jelly; but his hand met no resistance as he moved it about. He was about to reach in further, when... _something_ told him it was a bad idea. He figured it was a gut feeling, and he hesitated. Eventually he pulled his hand out of the darkness and back into the light. He thought he heard a sigh somewhere behind him.

A red light lit up the area infront of him and he pulled back, startled. In the light he could make out a few steps leading to a large thing that he chalked down to being a table. Beyond that were a few chairs scattered about. Stone walls were in sight now. He also saw a moniter. The moniter's screen was on, basking the area in a pale blue light. Boss slowly moved up the stairs, motioning for his squad to follow.

_'leave this place... you are not welcome here.'_

Boss shook his head and slapped his helmet reciever a few times.

"You good boss?" Scorch asked

"Yes, just getting some interference. Damn thing's getting old" He replied. He turned his attention to the moniter. "Fixer see what you can get out of that terminal"

"You got it Boss" Fixer said as he moved over to the chair infront of the moniter. "Skeleton here" He commented as he shoved what was left of a skeleton off of the chair.

Scorch began looking around the room, noticing skeletons lying around the room. Some were slumped over the table, others simply just lying around on the floor. "What do you think happened here Sev?"

Sev walked over to a skeleton and examined it arm, which had the remains of a knife stuck in it. "Must've been a battle of sorts."

"I coulda guessed that."

"Well you asked"

Boss ignored the two as he checked on Fixer's progress "How's it coming"

"Almost done hacking in" He replied "There's something I don't get though"

"What's that?" Boss questioned

"This computer's ancient, by its security alone I can tell it's well over one thousand years old" He scratched his chin. "In fact... this dates back all the way to the Sith Wars."

"How is that possible?" Boss asked in disbelief

Fixer shook his head "The prison above _might_ have reactivated this moniter, but it doesn't explain how it's still in working condition." He sat silent in thought for a moment "The only reason I can think of is.. someone or something has been maintaining it."

"Are you suggesting we're not alone?" Boss questioned

"Sure looks that way" Suddenly, the screen burst into text. "Finally I'm in." He began typing away at the computer. A few seconds later he spoke up again. "Strange... this computer seems to be connected to the prison. I suppose that would be expected considering that's what's powering it."

"What does this mean?" Boss asked quickly. He was starting to get the feeling they shouldn't be here anymore.

_**'leave this place'**_

The rate of Fixer's typing increased. "It mean's I can access the prison logs from here!"

Boss tilted his head "I thought we needed higher clearance for that, from the mainframe."

"That's just it" Fixer exclaimed "This terminal's not even on the grid, the Prison's security measures don't even see it. I'm just walking right past them all..."

Boss still didn't quite understand what Fixer was getting at "So what you saying is...?

"Is that this terminal doesn't need clearance. It's a ghost." Seconds of typing later, three pictures popped up on the screen. "Gather round" Fixer called. Scorch and Sev stopped looking at all the dead remains and stood on either side of the screen.

"That's them then? Their here?" Sev asked

Fixer nodded "Affirmative. I've got a... Hera S, a Sabine W... and a Ezra B."

Boss nodded and pointed to the picture of the kid "This must be Ezra, it's the kid we saw back at the crash site. Wonder how he got messed up in all this"

Before he could speak more, a low hum signaled behind him. The whole squad turned around to see the path they came in on. Suddenly, a thump sounded throughout the cavern; and the farthest crystal went out, obscuring the passagway they entered in, in darkness. The thumping continued, each time a thump sounded; a crystal would go dark. The darkness was slowly approaching the squad.

"Is it just me, or does it feel like bad things will happen if we get caught in the dark?" Scorch asked, a small bit of fear evident in his voice.

"For once, it's not just you" Sev replied.

"Delta's, we need to find a different exit" Boss said calmly.

"That sound.." Sev began "That's...that's a heartbeat!"

Scorch shook his head slowly and backed away from the slowly approaching darkness. "Oh..._ hell_ no."

The heartbeat began to slowly pick up in intensity and speed, the thumps now causing the ground to shake slightly. One by one the crystals went dark, and Boss suddenly realized the darkness was not the only thing coming for them.

There was something else, a presence; and it was getting closer.

He took a quick stpe back "Delta's! Any ideas!?" He shouted in desperation.

No one answered him. He looked around frantically. He caught a shining blue in the corner of his eye, and turned towards it. There, a blue crystal illuminating a passageway that used to be a stonewall, stood.

'_run'_

Something told him to run. He didn't know what, but he was well out of options at this point. "Squad follow me!" He yelled

The rest of the squad looked in surprise as Boss ran towards the passageway that wasn't there before. None of them questioned it however as they all ran inside the passageway behind them.

'_**run'**_

He ran faster down the passageway. He heard a loud shriek behind that rattled his brain, he stumbled into the wall as the ground began to shake. He turned back, only to see darkness. The darkness filled him with fear, more fear then he'd ever felt. _true_ fear.

_'__**RUN'**_.

He didn't stop. He ran faster, faster than he'd run in a very long time. Suddenly the darkness gave way to a dead end, a solid wall. He was about to hesitate.

_**'DO. NOT. STOP. RUNNING.'**_

__Something, he didn't know, _made_ him continue. He didn't stop as his body came into contact with the wall. The wall gave way, their was no resistance as he fell through the metal wall like it wasn't even there. He hit the ground as light flooded his vision. He didn't dare open his eyes as he lay. He heard three audible thumps on the ground, only then did he open his eyes. Metal walls and white light met his eyes. He pushed himself up into a sitting position, and further examined his surroundings. He was in a small room, with storage crates laying about the floor. There was a door to his left in the corner of the room. He remembered what he was currently dealing with, and his glance shot behind him; only to see grey metal wall. He stared at it for a good few seconds before collapsing back on the ground and began panting.

Movement from behind him caused him to stop and look towards the noise. It was Scorch, who was currently panting as well.

"I told you-" His panting cut him off. "I told you it was creepy" His shoulder slumped and he went back to staring straight ahead.

Boss turned his attention to the rest of the squad. Sev was currently hunched over rubbing his helmet. Fixer was leaning against a storage crate with his hand across his face.

"Boss..." He began "Never... again"

Boss let out a little chuckle "You got that right..."

"I'm scarred for life" Sev muttered "...again"

The whole squad let out a stress relieving chuckle as they tried to rid themselves of the memories of the past hour.


End file.
